Peter Watson has resigned as general manager of Microwarehouse Canada, claiming his aspirations no longer matched those of the company.
Stuart Fenton, who previously served as vice-president of merchandising and e-business for Microwarehouse in Europe, has become the new Canadian general manager.
Watson tendered his resignation over the weekend. He said the split with Mississauga, Ont.-based Microwarehouse was amicable and mutually beneficial.
“I just decided that I wanted a change of direction,” said Watson, who declined to elaborate on his plans. He did say his immediate future would involve some time away from work.
Reflecting on his 15 months at the helm of Microwarehouse, Watson said he was sorry recent market conditions had slowed the company’ progress a little, but remained proud of what he accomplished as GM.
“I think we did some really great things to move the company forward,” he said.
Under Watson, Microwarehouse slowly nurtured its fledgling e-business site while remaining committed to the mail-order model the company was founded on. Watson also went against the Canadian reseller grain and decided against investing in technical training for Microwarehouse’s sales representatives.
“What we want to remain good at is our core competence which is purchasing and delivering quickly and accurately,” Watson told Computer Dealer News recently. “If a customer has a particular issue that they need to have dealt with, we partner with approrpriate customers to provide those solutions for them.
“We’re not going to develop the amount of investment required to develop those all of those skills on board.”
Watson said he was still in contact with senior management at Microwarehouse, and is offering Fenton assistance in getting acclimated to his new position and surroundings.
